Plane Crash
Donation protected
Anyone who knows aviation
knows that those pursuing a future in general or commercial aviation is fading.
For a family that holds aviation so dear to their hearts, we really wanted to
do more to help people, especially kids, get interested in flying to keep it
alive. We could start with our own kids, our friends kids "“ then we thought,
OH! What about Make-a-Wish kids? This lead to, "what about medical assistance
flights? Medical transportation flights? Mission work?" "Oh and don't forget we
can also team with the local law enforcement agencies for desert search and
rescue!" The opportunities to help are
endless and we thought it would be an amazing experience to do something we
enjoy so much that would also show others a good time or even help save lives. The thought of it was empowering and
heartwarming!
When the opportunity to purchase an airplane project landed in our laps, we jumped at the chance "“ after all, not being in flying condition, and being a 1948 model that was used in the Korean War as a liaison aircraft, it cost about the same as your average car! It had everything we wanted; 4 seats, fuel efficiency, a unique design, antique, military history and colors, a strong and reliable airframe, and a nice roomy interior for our teenage boys. The only downside is that it's not fast, but who needs to fly fast anyway?!
We got a loan and purchased the Korean War era Navion in September of 2012 and it took until March of this year before it was finished. We scrimped and saved, worked extra hours and I even got a second job and we poured every last dime of what we had been saving to purchase an airplane into fixing this beautiful bird.
Finally on March 14th we went to pick her up from the Navion factory in South Saint Paul, MN over the kids' spring break.
Our flight from South Saint Paul to Sioux City, Iowa was my FIRST flight in a small airplane, so I was thrilled beyond belief like a kid at Christmas, but probably even more excited (especially since we had to forego the Christmas presents in December "“ the kids understood though, we were getting an AIRPLANE!!!)
When we took off from Minnesota, it was the most exhilarating feeling in my life! I was so proud for what my husband and I had accomplished and the fact that we were flying in OUR OWN AIRPLANE! The view was spectacular and my jaw was slack for probably the first 30 minutes of the flight, it was just that incredible! My husband and kids all had huge smiles on their faces too; we just couldn't believe our dream had finally come true after countless years of wanting and then 6 months of waiting! "We did it, honey!" I looked over and smiled at him. He just smiled back"“ I think he was speechless and felt like he was dreaming!
We made it to Denver (Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport) that night and stayed the night with family. The next day, after topping off the gas on what little space was left on our credit card, we took the runway to begin the next leg of our flight towards home in Phoenix.
After our preflight checks and hearing a clear weather report, we taxied out to the runway. We began our takeoff roll and lifted off. We reached a positive climb rate and put the gear up. Here we go again!!!:.or so I thought. At approximately 100 feet off the ground we suddenly were coming down out of the sky "“ the airplane literally stopped flying! I didn't understand what was going on but my husband, an experienced pilot with many years of commercial training, knew exactly what was going on and he quickly put down the landing gear and remained in control of the airplane until we impacted the ground. We careened towards the grass between the taxiway and runway and the nose gear collapsed. We continued to skid for several hundred feet before we came to a stop. We immediately threw open the canopy and hopped out and got a safe distance away, only to look back and see that the plane was largely DEMOLISHED. The wings were cracked, the propeller bent (which can wreck the engine) the cowling crushed and the landing gear destroyed. I felt like we were in a nightmare. We had her in our possession for not even 24 hours at this point. We were devastated and all I could do was stare in shock and horror with tears rolling down my face. How could it be that what we'd been waiting for, what we'd dreamed of for so long, was suddenly gone?!
I later found out that we encountered a wind shear. The wind direction changed from straight down the runway to coming from behind us. When there is no wind traveling over the wings of an airplane, the airplane won't fly. This freak occurrence is what happened to us "“ unbelievable!
Fortunately, we all walked away without a scratch. The emergency crews were shocked that we weren't injured in the least. They told my husband had he not gotten the landing gear down to absorb the majority of the impact, we would have all had broken backs for sure. They also said that we chose a good airplane because it is built like a tank, had it been another small aircraft, the outcome wouldn't have been so good, especially if the gear wasn't down.
The FAA and NTSB investigators told my husband he did everything right. Unfortunately, the insurance company decided to total the airplane. We really didn't want to see another piece of American history lost to the scrap heap, so after discussions with the Navion Factory reps, they said we could repair it so we ended up buying it back on credit. It was a bittersweet decision "“ we are attached to it, but we barely had money to fix it once, let alone twice! Of course it was insured, but it was only insured enough to get her barely airworthy again. This a great step but we found out some things we could do to make the airplane even safer, especially if we ever get into a bad situation again: A 3 bladed propeller (for better climb performance, so we can outclimb and outpower wind shear), better brakes and toe brakes instead of a handbrake (it's like trying to brake with your car's e-brake and it only half works!) and a baggage door modification that would act as a secondary exit in the event we crash and end up upside-down and cannot open the canopy. The arrangement of the panel is also not functional and we decided that the pilot having to lean down and look just above his left knee and to change the radios, leaving the zero-flight experienced co-pilot (aka ME!) to keep the airplane straight and level is probably unsafe, too. Because of this, we are rearranging the panel and changing out some of the avionics equipment to stuff that works and is newer. Additionally, the wings need to be rebuilt and strengthened and the engine needs to be rebuilt as well. This doesn't include paint, either "“ the bank that holds our loan, who is so kindly hanging in there and helping to facilitate the repair process, says it must be painted too in order to maintain the value of the collateral (aka the airplane itself.)
All in all, we are looking at about $25,000 beyond what the insurance will cover, but we are starting with a $10,000 goal because we would just be elated if we could reach that. We are saving as much as possible; we just want to get back up in the air as soon as possible to help encourage interest in general aviation and to explore more options in assisting in the medical field or Make-a-Wish. The faster we get the money together, the faster we can have her back (otherwise she stays in Minnesota until we pay up!)
Any contributions will be welcomed to help get our dream back off the ground. For every gift of $100, you will be entered into a drawing for a free 1 hour flight as a thank you when she's back up and running! (So if you donate $500, you will be entered 5 times to win!)
We feel silly even asking for help on this but those of you that know us really understand how much this airplane means to us. We really appreciate you and all of the love and support you have shown throughout this difficult process!
If you visit the Navion Factory webpage, you can see pictures and follow along with the restoration process:
http://navion.com/4276K.html
Thank you so much for your support "“ we can't do it without YOU!
When the opportunity to purchase an airplane project landed in our laps, we jumped at the chance "“ after all, not being in flying condition, and being a 1948 model that was used in the Korean War as a liaison aircraft, it cost about the same as your average car! It had everything we wanted; 4 seats, fuel efficiency, a unique design, antique, military history and colors, a strong and reliable airframe, and a nice roomy interior for our teenage boys. The only downside is that it's not fast, but who needs to fly fast anyway?!
We got a loan and purchased the Korean War era Navion in September of 2012 and it took until March of this year before it was finished. We scrimped and saved, worked extra hours and I even got a second job and we poured every last dime of what we had been saving to purchase an airplane into fixing this beautiful bird.
Finally on March 14th we went to pick her up from the Navion factory in South Saint Paul, MN over the kids' spring break.
Our flight from South Saint Paul to Sioux City, Iowa was my FIRST flight in a small airplane, so I was thrilled beyond belief like a kid at Christmas, but probably even more excited (especially since we had to forego the Christmas presents in December "“ the kids understood though, we were getting an AIRPLANE!!!)
When we took off from Minnesota, it was the most exhilarating feeling in my life! I was so proud for what my husband and I had accomplished and the fact that we were flying in OUR OWN AIRPLANE! The view was spectacular and my jaw was slack for probably the first 30 minutes of the flight, it was just that incredible! My husband and kids all had huge smiles on their faces too; we just couldn't believe our dream had finally come true after countless years of wanting and then 6 months of waiting! "We did it, honey!" I looked over and smiled at him. He just smiled back"“ I think he was speechless and felt like he was dreaming!
We made it to Denver (Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport) that night and stayed the night with family. The next day, after topping off the gas on what little space was left on our credit card, we took the runway to begin the next leg of our flight towards home in Phoenix.
After our preflight checks and hearing a clear weather report, we taxied out to the runway. We began our takeoff roll and lifted off. We reached a positive climb rate and put the gear up. Here we go again!!!:.or so I thought. At approximately 100 feet off the ground we suddenly were coming down out of the sky "“ the airplane literally stopped flying! I didn't understand what was going on but my husband, an experienced pilot with many years of commercial training, knew exactly what was going on and he quickly put down the landing gear and remained in control of the airplane until we impacted the ground. We careened towards the grass between the taxiway and runway and the nose gear collapsed. We continued to skid for several hundred feet before we came to a stop. We immediately threw open the canopy and hopped out and got a safe distance away, only to look back and see that the plane was largely DEMOLISHED. The wings were cracked, the propeller bent (which can wreck the engine) the cowling crushed and the landing gear destroyed. I felt like we were in a nightmare. We had her in our possession for not even 24 hours at this point. We were devastated and all I could do was stare in shock and horror with tears rolling down my face. How could it be that what we'd been waiting for, what we'd dreamed of for so long, was suddenly gone?!
I later found out that we encountered a wind shear. The wind direction changed from straight down the runway to coming from behind us. When there is no wind traveling over the wings of an airplane, the airplane won't fly. This freak occurrence is what happened to us "“ unbelievable!
Fortunately, we all walked away without a scratch. The emergency crews were shocked that we weren't injured in the least. They told my husband had he not gotten the landing gear down to absorb the majority of the impact, we would have all had broken backs for sure. They also said that we chose a good airplane because it is built like a tank, had it been another small aircraft, the outcome wouldn't have been so good, especially if the gear wasn't down.
The FAA and NTSB investigators told my husband he did everything right. Unfortunately, the insurance company decided to total the airplane. We really didn't want to see another piece of American history lost to the scrap heap, so after discussions with the Navion Factory reps, they said we could repair it so we ended up buying it back on credit. It was a bittersweet decision "“ we are attached to it, but we barely had money to fix it once, let alone twice! Of course it was insured, but it was only insured enough to get her barely airworthy again. This a great step but we found out some things we could do to make the airplane even safer, especially if we ever get into a bad situation again: A 3 bladed propeller (for better climb performance, so we can outclimb and outpower wind shear), better brakes and toe brakes instead of a handbrake (it's like trying to brake with your car's e-brake and it only half works!) and a baggage door modification that would act as a secondary exit in the event we crash and end up upside-down and cannot open the canopy. The arrangement of the panel is also not functional and we decided that the pilot having to lean down and look just above his left knee and to change the radios, leaving the zero-flight experienced co-pilot (aka ME!) to keep the airplane straight and level is probably unsafe, too. Because of this, we are rearranging the panel and changing out some of the avionics equipment to stuff that works and is newer. Additionally, the wings need to be rebuilt and strengthened and the engine needs to be rebuilt as well. This doesn't include paint, either "“ the bank that holds our loan, who is so kindly hanging in there and helping to facilitate the repair process, says it must be painted too in order to maintain the value of the collateral (aka the airplane itself.)
All in all, we are looking at about $25,000 beyond what the insurance will cover, but we are starting with a $10,000 goal because we would just be elated if we could reach that. We are saving as much as possible; we just want to get back up in the air as soon as possible to help encourage interest in general aviation and to explore more options in assisting in the medical field or Make-a-Wish. The faster we get the money together, the faster we can have her back (otherwise she stays in Minnesota until we pay up!)
Any contributions will be welcomed to help get our dream back off the ground. For every gift of $100, you will be entered into a drawing for a free 1 hour flight as a thank you when she's back up and running! (So if you donate $500, you will be entered 5 times to win!)
We feel silly even asking for help on this but those of you that know us really understand how much this airplane means to us. We really appreciate you and all of the love and support you have shown throughout this difficult process!
If you visit the Navion Factory webpage, you can see pictures and follow along with the restoration process:
http://navion.com/4276K.html
Thank you so much for your support "“ we can't do it without YOU!
Organizer
Jenn Kostic Dunn
Organizer
Gilbert, AZ